My heart tells me the New Orleans Pelicans are committed to General Manager Dell Demps. My head tells me Dell Demps will not be the GM following this season.

My heart tells me team owner Tom Benson and senior executive Mickey Loomis will understand all the bad luck Demps has dealt with. My head tells me unlucky equals unemployed in the world of professional sports.

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Two years ago, the New Orleans Pelicans decided to jump start their rebuilding process by building a team with what Demps called "young veterans."

Time after time Demps said it takes 18-, 19- and 20-year-old players entering the draft too long to develop. Some never develop.

The Pels wanted more proven players who had figured out who they were professionally, and Demps did a good job acquiring those guys -- Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson and Omer Asik.

Unfortunately, Demps' two biggest moves have mostly failed.

Demps gave Eric Gordon, the centerpiece of the Chris Paul trade, and a young veteran Head Coach Monty Williams, who said "will take a ton of pressure off Anthony Davis and help AD develop" a $58-million contract.

Since arriving in New Orleans, Gordon has been quite injury-prone. Gordon has missed nearly half the team's games over the previous four seasons. He's played in 145 of a possible 283 games.

Recently, Gordon has looked electric, but missing nearly 50 percent of the games when you're the team's highest-paid player is horrible.

Demps acquired Holiday in a 2013 draft night deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Pelicans gave up two first-round selections to acquire Holiday, who was coming off his first all-star game appearance.

I know for a fact Dell loved Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013, but drafting a raw 18-year-old is risky and would have meant a slower rebuild for New Orleans.

Two first-round picks, the sixth overall selection in 2013 and the 10th overall selection in 2014 for Holiday announced the "young vet" experiment was in full effect. Demps also dealt the Pelicans 2015 first-round selection to Houston for Omer Asik.

Once the Pels acquired Holiday, and then signed Tyreke Evans in 2013, many were predicting New Orleans would be taking flight into the playoffs.

But before this group even got off the ground, their wings were clipped by the injury bug.

While Gordon's struggles with injuries are well documented, it's Holiday's injuries that have hurt the Pelicans most.

Due to a stress reaction in his lower leg, Holiday missed 48 games last year. Holiday has been out since mid-January with the same injury this season.

In my opinion, not having Holiday, a true leader they acquired to be a floor general and a guy who's accomplished on both ends of the court, was the main factor for the Pelicans struggles last year and one of the reasons the Pels have been inconsistent this year.

We now also have to wonder if Holiday's health and his recurring stress reaction will hinder him going forward and become something that derails his career.

I understand that no one is responsible for injuries and that staying healthy has a lot to due with luck.

But as I said above, being unlucky doesn't mean you get to keep your job in professional sports.

When you look at two of Demps' biggest moves -- when Tom Benson and Mickey Loomis assess those moves and this season -- it's going to be hard for them to stomach giving up two first-round draft picks and a ton of financial flexibility (Gordon and Holiday combine to make $24.8 million) for guys who've spent the majority of their time in New Orleans sitting on the bench in fancy suits instead of playing and helping the team become a playoff contender.

Demps has had four years to rebuild the Pelicans and it doesn't seem to be working.

If (probably when) New Orleans misses the playoffs, it will join Minnesota, Sacramento, Phoenix and Detroit as the franchises that have gone the longest in the NBA without a postseason berth. (It may just be Minny, Sac Town and NOLA if the Pistons and Suns sneak in)

That's just not good enough. No more talk about being close. No more talk about bad luck. No more talk about being young -- talk time is over. Changes are coming.

I'm not saying changes are right. I'm not trying to convince you changes are fair, but they're coming.

Benson and Loomis learned long ago with their other franchise -- the Jim Haslett Saints from 2001-2005 -- that hoping a group mired in mediocrity all of the sudden becomes good, is not a plan for playoff success.

So what happens in two months when the season ends and the Pelicans miss the playoffs?

Given what I know, I think Loomis will part ways with Demps.

Loomis will bring on Louisianian Joe Dumars to run the Pelicans.

I know many high-ranking leaders on Airline Drive love Dumars and want him to come on board. Dumars even spent time with Loomis during the Saints' football season. The former Pistons general manager was just a guest of Loomis' at Saints games, but believe me, he's built a good relationship with the people calling the shots in New Orleans.

Loomis will hire Dumars, his guy (remember, Benson and Loomis inherited Demps and Monty Williams) and really take a step back from the Pelicans to focus exclusively on the Saints.

Dumars in turn will make the final call on Monty Williams and all roster decisions -- and delving into those decisions, my friends, is a column for another day.